The bats: The Cardinals lead the NL in hitting and have struck out the least of any team. Jim Edmonds (.402, 7 home runs, 20 RBI) and Albert Pujols(.381, 6 HRs, 20 RBI) and Edgar Renteria (.361, 4 HRs, 26 RBI) are all hot. J.D. Drew, Scott Rolen and Fernando Vina are all hovering around .240.

The rest: The Cardinals, who have a seven-game winning streak, are second in the NL in fielding. The Cards won the series with the Reds last year, winning 11 of 19 games.